Dr Kristine Battye
This paper will outline the aims, methods and results of a project funded by the Australian Divisions of General Practice (January 2000 - December 2001). The project is the first of its kind in Australia, and the lessons learned may influence the future direction of cardiac rehabilitation in rural and remote Australia. The NQRDGP developed an innovative general practitioner-based primary care cardiac rehabilitation program (Outreach Cardiac Rehabilitation Program). The program was designed for rural and remote patients, in the NQRDGP, who did not have access to the usual hospital-based cardiac rehabilitation program. The aim of this project was to compare the GP and patient-outcomes of the Outreach program with the outcomes of hospital-based cardiac rehabilitation, and compare these results with usual care (received no cardiac rehabilitation). Cardiac surgical patients were recruited to the study pre-discharge from Townsville hospitals. All patients completed a self-administered questionnaire in hospital (baseline), and at 2, 6 and 12 months post-discharge. Cardiovascular disease risk factor behaviour, cardiac symptoms, medication compliance, and participation in cardiac rehabilitation were assessed at each time point. The study sample included 3 groups of patients. Group 1 included patients who were enrolled in the Outreach Program. Group 2 included patients who had attended a facility-based cardiac rehabilitation program in North Queensland, and group 3 included those patients who had received usual care. Results of this project will be presented and discussed.